BASED COMPANY. STOCKHOLDERS SIGNING THE LETTER WANT THE SEVERSTAL DEAL TO BE CONSIDERED AT A SPECIAL MEETING IN JULY OR EVEN LATER IN AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER. THAT WOULD ALSO BE AFTER MITTAL'S OFFER EXPIRES ON JULY 5. AS A RESULT, SUNDAY'S BOARD MEETING COULD ALSO REPRESENT A MAKE-OR-BREAK GATHERING FOR MITTAL STEEL CO, WHICH LAUNCHED TAKEOVER MOVES TO BUY ARCELOR IN JANUARY. SINCE THEN, MITTAL HAS BEEN FORCED TO RAISE ITS OFFER BY 34 PER CENT TO 25.8 BILLION EUROS AS THE BATTLE FOR ARCELOR HAS INTENSIFIED. WHILE MITTAL'S OFFER IS WORTH 34.4 EUROS A SHARE, ARCELOR AND SEVERSTAL SAY THEIR MERGER PLAN WOULD VALUE ARCELOR AT 44 EUROS A SHARE. MITTAL, WHICH IS CURRENTLY THE WORLD'S BIGGEST STEELMAKER, HAS SO FAR REFUSED TO INCREASE ITS BID FOR ARCELOR AGAIN. NETHERLANDS-BASED MITTAL HAS ALREADY BEEN GIVEN THE GREENLIGHT BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION'S MONOPOLY OFFICIALS SAYING THEY "FOUND THAT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION WOULD NOT GIVE RISE TO COMPETITION CONCERNS" IN EUROPE. TALKS BETWEEN MITTAL AND ARCELOR OVER A PROPOSED BUSINESS PLAN DRAWN UP BY MITTAL BROKE UP LAST WEEK WITHOUT ANY SIGN OF RESOLUTION OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS. IT WAS THE FIRST FORMAL CONTACT BETWEEN THE TWO COMPANIES SINCE MITTAL UNVEILED ITS TAKEOVER PLANS SIX MONTHS AGO. WHILE ARCELOR'S 18-HEAD BOARD CONSIDERS HOW TO HOW HANDLE ITS REBEL SHAREHOLDERS, SEVERSTAL IS ALSO UNDERSTOOD TO BELIEVE THAT IT HAS A BINDING AGREEMENT WITH ARCELOR TO PRESS ON WITH THE PROPOSED MERGER UNLESS IT IS REJECTED BY SHAREHOLDERS ON JUNE 28. THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION HAS SET A DEADLINE OF JULY FOR THE FIRST-PHASE OF ITS INVESTIGATION INTO ARCELOR'S PROPOSED MERGER WITH SEVERSTAL. UNDER THE DEAL WITH MORDASHOV, SEVERSTAL IS TO EMERGE WITH AN INITIAL 32 PER CENT STAKE IN ARCELOR. THIS WILL INCREASE TO 38.5 PER CENT ONCE THE COMPANY BUYS BACK AND ANNUALS ABOUT 150 MILLION SHARES.
